Skip to main content
Cal Sports Report

Homa-Morikawa Duo 5 Shots Back After One Round of Zurich Classic

The pair of former Cal golfers shot 6-under as 'Homakawa' hopes to make the cut
Jake Curtis|
Homa-Morikawa Duo 5 Shots Back After One Round of Zurich Classic
Homa-Morikawa Duo 5 Shots Back After One Round of Zurich Classic

The team of former Cal golfers used a strong finish to make the most of an otherwise difficult first round on Thursday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.

Max Homa and Collin Morikawa are the pairing of former Golden Bears that began the day as the second favorite to win this unique PGA Tour event played at the TPC Louisiana golf course in Avondale, La.  They combined to shoot 6 under par on the first day, leaving them five strokes off the lead, jointly held by the team of Wyndham Clark and Beau Hossler and the duo of Brandon Matthews and Sean O'Hair.

The first round was played in a Four-Ball (also known as best-ball) format, and teams are expected to finish well under par in this format where bogeys are rare. The second round will be played under the Foursome format, where scores may not be as impressive.

(Explanations of the formats appear at the end of this report.)

Homakawa, as the two fortmer Cal golfers have dubbed themselves this week, started the day on the 10th tee and had two bogeys on their first 10 holes, leaving them at 1 under par at that point. But they shot 5 under part the rest of the way, which included birdies on four of their final five holes.

That left Homakawa at 6-under for the day.  Eighty teams are competing in this event, and the Cal duo was tied with 12 other teams for 43rd place after one round. The top 33 teams (and ties) after Friday’s second round will make the cut and play Saturday and Sunday.

The highlight of the day for Homakawa may have been Morikawa’s birdie on No. 5, which was the team’s 14th hole of the day. Morikawa hit his tee shot into the sand, and had a difficult lie at the lip of the bunker with the ball well below his feet. But he hit an outstanding shot onto the green and made a lomng birdie putt to get the team to 3-under.

Morikawa also made a birdie putt on the eighth hole, the team’s 17th hole of the day, to get Homakawa to 5-under and they got another birdie on the final hole.

Morikawa is currently ranked 13th in the world and Homa is seventh, which is why oddsmakers made them the second favorite in this event, behind only the team of Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schaufflele, the defending champs in this event. But Cantlay and Schauffele had their struggles as well and shot 5 under par, leaving them tied for 56th place, one stroke behind the Cal duo.

Homa has been struggling of late. He missed the cut for the first time in his last 15 events in last week’s Heritage event, and he did not have his best game on Thursday.

This is considered a low-pressure event that does not feature the intensity of most PGA Tour events, but there is still $8.6 million in prize money up for grabs, with $5.1 million going to the winning team. So players want to win.

The two formats for the Zurich Classic of New Orleans:

--- Four-ball: Also known as “best ball.” Players from each team will play their own ball throughout the round with the best score between the two being used for each hole. For example, if Homa makes par on No. 1 and Morikawa makes birdie, the team will record a birdie. This is the format for Thursday’s and Saturday’s rounds.

---Foursome: Before the round begins, teams will determine which member will tee off on which holes. One player will be designated to strike the first tee shot on odd holes while the other will begin the even holes. If Homa strikes the tee shot on No. 1, Morikawa will take on the approach with Homa then hitting the third. This alternating will continue until the ball is holed. Even if Morikawa is the last to strike a shot on No. 1, he will hit the tee shot on the second hole in this instance. This is the format that will be used Friday and Sunday.

.

Cover photo of Max Homa and Collin Morikawa is by Andrew Wevers, USA TODAY Sports

.

Follow Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Jake Curtis
JAKE CURTIS

Jake Curtis worked in the San Francisco Chronicle sports department for 27 years, covering virtually every sport, including numerous Final Fours, several college football national championship games, an NBA Finals, world championship boxing matches and a World Cup. He was a Cal beat writer for many of those years, and won awards for his feature stories.

Home/Other Sports